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Halifax
Halifax is a historical drama novel by Australian author Philip Graham, planned to be released by Sarasota Square. The novel is set in wartime Canada, and follows three merchants from Vancouver, British Columbia after they move to Halifax, Nova Scotia in order to take advantage of the naval port at the outbreak of World War I, providing for the growing community of Halifax as it grows into one of the world's biggest naval ports. The majority of Halifax is set during the weeks leading up to the Halifax Explosion, the largest accidental non-nuclear explosion in history. The narrative follows John, Lleyland and narrator Wilson, as they set up a large convenience store in a fictionalised Halifax business district in 1914, before jumping three years later to 1917, where Lleyland is now a multi-millionare, Wilson works for Lleyland with a generous pay and John had split from Lleyland, struggling to live having not found a job with a decent income. Halifax explores human values and the impact of social classes on eachother, with the three characters representing the system; Lleyland, the higher class, Wilson, the middle class, and John, the lower class. The novel also continues Graham's writing trait of not having a clear antagonist, with the story depicting Lleyland as a man with a vision for a sustainable future, while fending off the antics of John, who wishes to see him decline in social status as a payback for refusing to help him financially despite his wealth. Halifax was first unveiled by Graham to his peers in 2013, with the novel originally set to be released in parts, starting in October 2013. The novel was scrapped, however, after further changes in story development led to a writer's block-esque halt in writing, where Graham had difficulty developing the story further. The novel had originally lacked the story's class-centric crisis and misunderstanding between Lleyland and John, and once Graham had formulated the idea, the novel resumed writing. Halifax is set to be released as a full-length novel in the near future under Sarasota Square, and will be one of four novels Graham will be working on towards publishing, alongside Seeds of a Dandelion, Tharis and The Great Leader. Sypnosis 'Main characters' *Lleyland Pierce *Wilson Taylor *John Archibald 'Setting' 'Plot' Background Halifax, much like Tharis, had gone through an extensive period of rewriting and changes in story. Halifax originally began as a brainstormer for ideas concerning a novel that weighed the pros and cons of commerce and it's potential impact on a number of people if commerce was mishandled. The idea was to emulate the traditional writing styles of 20th Century authors and their common themes of human values. While it was not the original intention for the novel to be set in Halifax with the climatic ending being the Halifax explosion, the first drafts for a storyline revolving around a group of merchants making a living off a particular growing city and seeing their demise through hardship and a catastrophic event in history were set in wartime Halifax and the Halifax Explosion was used as a climax. Graham's decision to base the first drafts on wartime Halifax was his interest in the Halifax explosion at the time of writing. Before eventually choosing the original Halifax idea, Graham opted for a more modern setting, where the novel could link more appropriately current-world issues. One initial ideas were to set the story in downtown New York, with the climatic event being the September 11 attacks. After convincing himself that a modern-world setting would not work for such a story, famous events throughout history were drawn into plan. One of these included the novel being set in San Francisco before the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. Others included a Texas City setting with the Texas City Disaster, a Pripyat setting with the Chernobyl disaster and a London setting with the Great Fire of London. Promotion Chapters Shimmer, The City of Trees, Bedford References External links Category:Browse